Edward P. Sinni, Jr. v. Division of Occupational Licensure (SPR 20191724)

. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 10, 2019 SPR19/1724 Jean McCarthy Records Access Officer Division of Professional Li censure Office of Public Safety and Inspections 1000 Washington S{reet, Suite 710 Boston, MA 02118 Dear Ms. McCarthy: I have received the petition of Edward Sinni appealing the response of the Division of Professional Licensure (Division)'s Office of Public Safety and Inspections (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sinni requested "the email address for the Chairman of the Architectural Access Board, Mr. Walter White." In an August 20, 2019 response, the Office denied the request pursuant to the privacy clause of Exemption (c). You assert, "[a]s stated, the disclosure of personal email addresses of the licensees at issue would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy not substantially outweighed by the public's interest in disclosure of the material." As a result of the August 201 h denial, Mr. Sinni petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b )(iv) (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Jean McCarthy SPR19/l 724 Page 2 September 10, 2019 to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... "); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). The Office's August 20, 2019 response In its August 20th response denying access to the personal email address of the Chairman of the Architectural Access Board pursuant to the second clause of Exemption (c), the Office relied on a July 6, 2017 detem1ination of the Supervisor. See SPRl 7/866 Determination of the Supervisor (July 6, 2017). SPRl 7 /866 pertained to a request to the Office for all records of an identified licensee, and redaction of the licensee's personal email address of the licensee under the second clause of Exemption ( c ). This detennination states, "[t]he personal email address of a hoisting licensee relates to a specific individual and is of the type of information that is not generally available through other public sources or available by any other means of public search. Such treatment of email addresses favors a finding of nondisclosure. Furthennore, I see no compelling public interest in favor of disclosure that would outweigh the privacy interests of the licensees." Exemption (o) During a telephone conversation with Attorney Brnce Hopper, Chief Legal Counsel for the Division, a Public Records Division attorney learned that the Office re-reviewed the request and its Exemption ( c) claim, and determined that in this case, Exemption ( o) applies to withhold Mr. White's personal email address because he is a Chairman of a board. In a September 10th email, Attorney Hopper confirmed that the Office intends to withhold the personal email address under Exemption (o) of the Public Records Law. Exemption (o) applies to: the home address, personal email address and home telephone number of an employee of the judicial branch, an unelected employee of the general court, an agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or· authority of the commonwealth, or of a political subdivision thereof or of an authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, in the custody of a government agency which maintains records identifying persons as falling within those categories; provided that the infonnation may be disclosed to an employee organization under chapter 150E, a nonprofit organization for retired public employees under chapter 180, or a criminal justice agency as defined in section 167 of chapter 6. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(0) (emphasis added).

Jean McCarthy SPR19/l 724 Page 3 September 10, 2019 Whereas, it is my understanding that Mr. White is an unelected employee of a board, Exemption (o) allows the Office to withhold Mr. White's personal email address from public disclosure. In your August 20111 written response, you advised Mr. Sim1i that Mr. White, the Board's Chainnan, and all the members of the Board may be reached by sending co1Tespondence to the Board's mailing address; or through fax; or via email to the Board's Compliance Officet\ William Joyce at william.joyce@mass.gov. Conclusion Accordingly, I find that the Office has met its burden in withholding the personal email address of the Board's Chairman under Exemption (o) of the Public Records Law. I consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. MuITay Supervisor of Records cc: Edward Sinni cc: Brnce Hopper, Esq., Chief Legal Counsel, Division of Professional Licensure